The Rise and Fall of a Hero
by couldntthinkofagoodpenname
Summary: The story following a young apprentice from a child in Theed during the attack on Naboo to they fall of the jedi at the Jedi Temple.
1. The Dream

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing of the Star Wars universe, George Lucas does._

**Chapter 1**

**The Dream**

Donte bolted straight into they air and broke into a cold sweat. He had that dream again, that horrible reminder of the night he lost everything, and became what he is today. He was a twenty one year old apprentice under Master Oba Dagan. He had dark black hair, blue eyes, and was 6'1.

Donte got up and rubbed his head since he had developed a splitting headache from the dream. He got up and headed towards the refrigerator in his kitchen where he opened the door and drowsily searched through its contents before shutting it and turning towards the exit. He grabbed his robes haphazardly and through them on over his clothes.

He walked through the door of the apartment and was turning around to slide in his access card to lock the door and found a note.

___Donte,_

_Meet me in the courtyard._

Donte never could understand how Master Oba always knew when he needed help, sometimes even before he knew himself. Donte walked into the elevator and pressed the 1st floor button. In a flash he was stepping out of the elevator (which is surprising considering he lived on the fifty-third floor) and walking through the lobby of the apartment complex connected with the Jedi Temple. The courtyard was a peaceful and tranquil place of "mind and spirit", as the masters called it.

Oba was a Twelik, and had a very carefree spirit. She was in Dontes' opinion, the most understanding, and friendliest. He felt that no matter what he needed help with he knew he could always go to her. And he also knew he could always go to her just to talk, and maybe watch a little holo-TV, or help the younglings train. Few other apprentices could say the same.

At the fountain he could see his master running a finger through the gently flowing water. Oba was not the… favorite master among the order. They felt she was too careless, and that she never took enough time each day to meditate and focus her skills. But in his opinion, he couldn't have a better master.

"Master, you wanted to talk to me?" Donte asked coming up to her and taking a seat on the fountains edge.

"Oba will do just fine, and no, as a matter of fact I think you want to talk to me." she replied still running her finger through the water but eyes intent on Donte.

"I had that dream again," Donte started before being cut off by Oba.

"Oh yes, that dream again…" she replied with a glassy look in her eyes.

Fifteen years earlier… 

"Mom, hurry up, I'm gonna be late for school," a young boy yelled while running to the front door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, hold your horses," the woman, his mother replied.

The small six year old was running through the halls of their small country house on Naboo just on the outskirts of the capital.

"Come on mom, I don't want to be late the first day of school," he said while jumping up and down with antisipation.

"Here, have some breakfast before we go," said his mother who was still getting ready.

He ran right by her, grabbed a piece of toast and ran through the door and hopped into the speeder, all while taking large bites from his toast. His mother came up through the door, locking it behind her. She opened the door of the speeder turned on the ignition, and took off toward the capital.

Then the voice of his old teacher, Mrs. Lapham, came into his head…

"Alright class, today is the day all your parents come in to tell us about their jobs."

The small boy put his hand up.

"Yes, Donte, what is it," she said in the sugary voice some people use with younger children.

"My dad won't be able to come today. He's training with the rest of the soldiers, but later he and all the rest of the soldiers are gonna come home for some of moms homemade lemonade."

"Of course Donte," Mrs. Lapham replied trying to sound caring.

His dad was a member of the militia, and ever since the Trade Federation blockaded the planet, they had been training none stop.

"Hey look who it is, little Donte," a loud, cruel, voice said.

It was Raygon, the school bully.

"What do you want?" Donte replied while trying to hide his fear.

Without even answering the question he shoved Donte into the closet while the teacher was already in the hall, ushering the other children out for recess.

"Have fun in there!" He shouted before running out into the hall with the rest of his class.

The small child pounded on the closet door but it wouldn't budge. He was stuck. He sat down and decided to wait for everyone to come back but drifted off to sleep. A time when people have good dreams and think about the future, but little did he know that when he woke up his life would change forever.


	2. A Broken Life

A Broken Life 

The young boy was woken by the sound of smoldering fire and the stench of smoke. Donte slowly opened his eyes and took a whiff of the black fog that had formed around him in the closet. He let out a series of deep coughs. The smoke made his eyes water.

The young boy looked around him. He saw a thin strip of light shining through into the closet. Donte looked around to try to find the source of the light, but the fog blocked his view of sight. He got up on his feet and banged at the door with his hands. Nothing. So he kicked it several times and the door broke off its hinges.

What he saw haunted him for many nights. The charred bodies of his teacher and classmates were scattered all over the floor. There was a fire in the corner of the room. There were blaster marks all over the walls, signifying a fight broke out. There was a blaster next to what was left of Mrs. Lapham. The nozzle of the weapon had been blown off, making it unserviceable. There had been rumors she was a part of the resistance fighters, and this was surefire proof of it, but he wasn't thinking about that.

Then Donte thought of a horrible possibility. If they came here to take out Mrs. Lapham, They might also look for his dad! He picked up the blaster, burst down through the door of his classroom, or at least what was left of it, and discovered that the entire school had been hit.

He walked down the destroyed hallway of his school. Parts of it had no roof. Looking in through the doors of the other classrooms, he saw the same story every time. He approached the main doors when he heard the sounds of footsteps. They where in perfect rhythm, all at once, making it impossible to tell whether their was five or fifty.

It was like the soldiers footsteps he remembered when he went with his dad to the makeshift barracks. Only much more organized. He ducked and waited for the footsteps to pass.

After they did he ran through the doors and into the street. The streets were clear, for the most part, just some rubble hear and there. A few more buildings had been destroyed in any direction, but the rest of Theed seemed untouched. His school was on the very edge of Theed, where as some say, cobblestone meets grass.

As he ran toward his house, he saw in a nearby canal, what seemed to be a sub of some sort. He paid it little attention; all he wanted to do was to get home, and to find the militia drinking his moms ice cold lemonade.

"But that young boy would never experience that." Oba said, cutting in.

"No." Donte replied in a sullen voice. "And then," Oba continued, "What happened next."

Donte ran past the city limits and passed into the grasslands. _Don't stop running. Don't stop. _He repeated this over and over through his head, so much that his brain was out of breath.

"Almost… there." Donte muttered under his breath.

But he wasn't close, not yet. There were still miles left to his house. "Gotta rest…" Donte breathed out. He stopped to rest on a rock covered with moss.

The young, innocent boy looked up at the city of Theed. The palace rose above the other buildings of Theed. He could see smoke rising still from the area around his school. Then he heard it, a low hum. Donte looked around and saw something moving over a hill near him.

He ducked behind the rock. It just barely hid him from sight. He looked up to see a tan colored tank moving past him toward Theed. It was hovering several feet off the ground. He waited and waited, and even though it was long gone, Donte didn't move, he just sat there, as if he was waiting for something.

Donte came out of the trance when he heard blaster shots going of within the city.

"I have to keep moving." He whispered aloud.

It was night by the time he finally reached his house in the plains. There was one problem, it wasn't there anymore. What was there one wouldn't even consider ruins of a house. He dropped to his knees.

Donte needed to get off the planet, but to do that, he would have to go back to Theed…


End file.
